U.S. Commerce Secretary
Gary Locke today announced the members of the National Advisory Council on
Innovation and Entrepreneurship during an innovation forum at the University of Michigan
in Ann Arbor.
Locke hosted the event along with the Commerce Department’s Office of
Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Economic Development Administration.

The National Advisory
Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship will support President Obama's
innovation strategy by helping to develop policies that foster entrepreneurship
and identifying new ways to take great ideas from the lab to the marketplace to
drive economic growth and create jobs. Members of the council include serial
entrepreneurs, university presidents, investors and non-profit leaders.

“I want to extend
my gratitude to the leaders selected to The National Advisory Council. Their
work will be a key component of America’s
economic recovery,” Locke said.

Participants at the forum
discussed the role of universities in innovation, economic development, job
creation and commercialization of federally funded research.

Earlier this year, Locke
kicked off a national dialogue on these issues at a forum on “Catalyzing
University Research for a Stronger Economy” with university leaders and
key stakeholders in Washington,
D.C. The Ann
Arbor forum is the third of four in a series of regional innovation
forums hosted by Commerce’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship,
with previous forums held at the University
of Massachusetts and the University of Southern California. The final upcoming
forum will be held at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Release

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